Bulb-socket assembly with resilient body member



20, 1970 l-LMAGI 3,535,672

' BULB-SOCKET ASSEMBLY WITH RESILIENT BODY IEMBER Filed sob. 1a, 1969 FIGS].

' INVENTOR. HUGO (N-M-N.) MAG! United States Patent 3,535,672 BULB-SOCKET ASSEMBLY WITH RESILIENT BODY MEMBER Hugo Magi, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada, assignor to D0- minion Auto Accessories Limited, Toronto, Ontario,

Canada Filed Feb. 13, 1969, Ser. No. 798,990 Int. Cl. H011 13/48, 33/64 US. Cl. 339-59 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bulb-socket assembly, including a resilient body defining a. socket aperture and two terminal-receiving apertures normal to the socket aperture. An electric terminal in one terminal aperture contacts a bulb socket mounted in the socket aperture, and a U-shaped electric terminal in the other terminal aperture contacts the base of a bulb in the socket. The body resiliently isolates the bulb from shocks received by the vehicle on which the assembly may be mounted.

This invention relates to bulb-socket assemblies of the kind used generally as tail lights or auxiliary lights on automotive products. Many vehicles, such as trucks and other utility vehicles, are intended to be subjected to rough use, which makes it necessary that the bulb-socket mountings in the vehicles lights be of a construction adapted to withstand and cushion shocks and impacts.

The object of this invention is to provide a bulb-socket assembly of simple construction in which the several parts can be merely pressed or snapped into place, and which is particularly adapted to shield a bulb from damaging shocks and impacts.

Accordingly, this invention provides a bulb-socket assembly, comprising: an integral resilient body member including a portion defining a socket aperture which opens through one wall of said portion, a first terminal-receiving aperture perpendicularly intersecting said socket aperture from a first direction at the end of said socket aperture remote from said one wall, and a second terminal-receiving aperture intersecting said socket aperture from the direction opposite said first direction at an intermediate location along the socket aperture, a first electric terminal inserted in said first terminal-receiving aperture and capable of contacting the centre terminal of a bulb in said socket aperture, said first electric terminal having means for locking engagement with an electric wire, a second electric terminal inserted in said second terminal-receiving aperture and having a first part extending into said socket and a second part which is free of said resilient body member and is capable of being grounded, and an electric socket member inserted into the socket aperture in electric contact with said first part of said second electric terminal, the electric socket member being capable of contacting the peripheral terminal of a bulb in said socket aperture.

One embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which likenumerals denote like parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of the four components of the bulb-socket assembly of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an axial sectional view of one of the components shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taktn at the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of two of the components shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top view, to a smaller scale, of the component shown in FIG. 2; and

3,535,672 Patented Oct. 20, 1970 Too FIG. 6 is a perspective view, from the rear, of two of the components shown in FIG. 1.

Referring first to FIG. 1, an exploded bulb-socket assembly shown generally at 10 comprises an integral resilient body member 11, which includes flange 12 and a portion 13 defining a socket aperture 14 which opens through the front wall 16 of the portion 13. The portion 13 is generally block-shaped and has a top wall 18 sub 'stantially perpendicular to the front wall 16. Through the top wall 18 opens a first terminal-receiving aperture 20 which perpendicularly intersects the socket aperture 14. Thus, the socket aperture 14 and the first terminal-receiving aperture 20 approximately define an elbow passageway through the portion 13, one end of which opens through the top wall 18, the other end of which opens through the front wall 16. A second terminal-receiving aperture 21 intersects the socket aperture 14 through the bottom wall 22, and thus extends to the socket aperture 14 from a direction opposite the direction of the first terminal-receiving aperture 20. The location of the intersection of the second terminal-receiving aperture 21 is intermediate the socket aperture 14. This is best seen in FIG. 2, where the second terminal-receiving aperture 21 is shown to intersect the socket aperture 14 at a location between the front wall 16 and the rear end 24 of the socket aperture 14.

The first terminal-receiving aperture 20 is rectangular in cross-section, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, and is provided, centrally of its rear wall, with a cylindrical recess 25, the purpose of which will be made clear later. A wire opening 26 communicates with the first terminalreceiving aperture 20 through the rear wall 28. As can be seen particularly in FIG. 3, the wire opening 26 is elongated in the direction of the axis of the recess 25.

The rear wall 28 also has two lock-apertures 30 located above the wire opening 26 and communicating with the first terminal-receiving aperture 20 on either side of the recess 25.

The portion 13 has an upper ledge 32 which overhangs the rear wall 28, and a cylindrical protuberance 33 extends downwardly along the rear wall 28 to encase the recess 25.

As best seen in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, the flange 12 has the shape of a segment of a circle, and is defined between an arc-edge 34 and a chord-edge 35. Two attachment apertures 37 are provided in the flange 12 for securing the body member 11 to a housing (not shown). The flange 12 further has a groove 40 which extends along the bottom wall 22 beneath the portion 13 and terminates at the aperture 21.

The socket aperture 14 has an upper longitudinal groove 42 and a lower longitudinal groove 44. Both the upper and lower longitudinal grooves 42 and 44 terminate at the first terminal-receiving aperture 20. In FIG. 1 it can be seen that the aperture 21 communicates with the lower longitudinal groove 44. This communication can be seen as well in FIG. 2, in which there can also be seen, in cross-section, a recess 46 which is located centrally along the upper longitudinal groove 42. The recess 46 has the same width as the upper longitudinal groove 42 (in the direction normal to the drawing sheet), and its length can be seen in the figure.

The front face 16 of the portion 13 has two, aligned side-grooves 48 which are radially located with respect to the socket aperture 14, and which are spaced at from the upper and lower longitudinal grooves 42 and 44.

A first electric terminal 50 is shown in FIG. 1 to comprise a band 52 of metal bent to have a generally U-shaped cross-section, such as to enable it to be inserted into the first terminal-receiving aperture 20 with the base 53 of the U innermost. One arm 54 of the U is adapted to com tact the centre terminal of a bulb inserted into the socket aperture 14, while the other arm 56 of the first electric terminal is provided with means for locking engagement with an electric wire 58, shown in FIG. 6. The locking engagement means involves two parallel slits 60 in the arm 56, the slits 60 defining two parallel ribbons 62a and 62b in the arm 56, the ribbons 62a and 62b being deflected alternately in opposite directions to define in part a tubular receptacle for the bared end 63 of the electric wire 58. The tubular receptacle is extended by forming an elongated recess 64 below the ribbons 62a and 621).

As can be seen in FIG. 6, the wire 58 is first fed through the aperture 26, thence u through the first terminal-receiving aperture 20, and then between the ribbons 62a and 62b electric terminal 50. During assembly, the electric terminal 50 is inserted in the first terminal-receiving aperture 20 with the base 53 of the U innermost, while the Wire 58 is pulled outwardly through the aperture 26 at the same time. In its final position, the electric terminal 50 is locked into place in the first terminal-receiving aperture 20 by virtue of two tabs 66 on the end of the arm 56, which lock in the lock-apertures 30. In this locked position, the lower ribbon 62b (the one extending away from the arm 54) is located above the aperture 26, and this forces the bared wire 63 to remain bent double around the lower ribbon 62b in such a way that (a) good electric contact is established and maintained, and (b) it is impossible to pull the Wire 58 out through the aperture 26.

A second electric terminal 68 comprises a strap 70 which at its free end is bent twice to form portions 71 ,and 72. At its other end, the strap 70 is integral with two oppositely extending arms 74 and 75, each with an enlarged portion 76 at its free end, each enlarged portion 76 having an aperture 78 through which the arms 74 and may be grounded to the body of the vehicle.

During assembly, the portion 72 at the end of the strap 70 is intended to be inserted into the aperture 21 from beneath the body member 11, such that the strap 70 lies along the groove 40 (see FIG. 6) while the end portion 72 lies flat along the lower longitudinal groove 44 in the socket aperture 14 (see FIG. 1).

The bulb-socket assembly of this invention further includes an electric socket member 80, which can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4. The electric socket member 80 is basically a penannular member which is split at 81. Opposite the split at 81 is an outwardly extending channel 82 which is adapted to be received in the lower longitudinal groove 44 in the socket aperture 14. Adjacent the split 80, the penannular electric socket member 80 has two upstanding tabs 84 and 85, only tab 84 being visible in FIG. 4. Tab 85 is shorter than tab 84 by virtue of the fact that the electric socket member 80 adjacent the tab 85 is narrower than it is adjacent tab 84. Those versed in the art to which this invention pertains will recognize that the J-slots 86 and the change in the width of the electric socket member 80 is the standard construction permitting a bulb to be locked into its proper position within the electric socket member 80. The electric socket member 80 has additional tabs 88 which are adapted to be received in the grooves 48. The tabs 84 and 85 have upstanding protrusions 90 (see FIG. 4) which are adapted to register in the recess 46 within the upper longitudinal groove 42. This registration is what maintains the electric socket member 80 in its proper position within the socket aperture 14.

Lastly, the electric socket member 80 has a downwardly extending tab 92 which is adapted to register in the aperture 21, thereby establishing contact with both portions 71 and 72 at the end of the strap 70 of the second electric terminal 68.

While one embodiment of this invention has been shown and described herein, those skilled in the art will appreciate that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A bulb-socket assembly, comprising:

an integral resilient body member including a portion defining a socket aperture which opens through one wall of said portion, a first terminal-receiving aperture perpendicularly intersecting said socket aperture from a first direction at the end of said socket aperture remote from said one wall, and a second terminal-receiving aperture intersecting said socket aperture from the direction opposite said first direction at an intermediate location along the socket aperture,

2. first electric terminal inserted in said first terminalreceiving aperture and capable of contacting the centre terminal of a bulb in said socket aperture, said first electric terminal having means for locking engagement with an electric wire,

a second electric terminal inserted in said second terminal-receiving aperture and having a first part extending into said socket and a second part Which is free of said resilient body member and is capable of being grounded,

and an electric socket member inserted into the socket aperture in electric contact with said first part of said second electric terminal, the electric socket member being capable of contacting the peripheral terminal of a bulb in said socket aperture.

2. A bulb-socket assembly as claimed in claim 1, in. which said first terminal-receiving aperture is of rectangular cross-section, the first electric terminal being a band of metal bent to have a generally U-shaped crosssection, and adapted to be inserted into the first terminalreceiving aperture with the base of the U innermost, said centre terminal of the bulb being adapted to contact one arm of the U, the said means for locking engagement with an electric wire comprising a plurality of parallel slits in the other arm of the U, the parallel slits defining parallel ribbons in the band, the ribbons being deflected alternately in opposite directions to define in part a tubular receptacle for the end of an electric wire.

3. A bulb-socket assembly as claimed in claim 2, in which a wire-opening communicates with said first terminal-receiving aperture at right-angles thereto and at a location such that an electric wire can pass through said wire-opening and through said alternately-deflected ribbons in the direction toward the base of the U, the wire being bent double upon itself from the wire-opening to the free end of the wire.

4. A bulb-socket assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the integral resilient body member further includes a flange, the socket-defining portion lying wholly to one side of said flange, the said socket aperture being substantially cylindrical, and having two, antipodal, longitudinal grooves, the electric socket member being substantially cylindrical but having protuberant portions at diametrically opposed locations, these protuberant portions being adapted to fit complementally within the longitudinal grooves in the socket aperture.

5. A bulb-socket assembly as claimed in claim 4, in which said second terminal-receiving aperture intersects one of the said longitudinal grooves within the socket aperture, the second electric terminal including an end portion bent at right-angles to the adjacent portion, the end portion and the adjacent portion being adapted to pass through the second terminal-receiving aperture such that the end portion lies along said one longitudinal groove and said adjacent portion lies Within the second terminal-receiving aperture 21, the said protuberant portion of the electric socket member which is adapted to lie within said one longitudinal groove having an outwardly extending tab adapted to be received within the second terminal-receiving aperture, whereby electric contact is created between said electric socket member and both the end portion and the adjacent portion of said second electric terminal.

6. A bulb-socket assembly as claimed in claim 4, in which the electric socket member is penannular in shape. and has two outwardly directed tabs, one at each of the free ends, the said tabs being adapted to lodge within the other of the longitudinal grooves, the tabs thus constituting one of said protuberant portions.

7. A bulb-socket assembly as claimed in claim 6, in which the outwardly extending tabs have protrusions adapted to register within a recess in the bottom of said other longitudinal groove.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,046,363 7/1936 Beggs 339--188 X 2,884,609 4/1959 Fraser et al. 339-488 X 2,936,437 5/1960 Fraser et al.

3,025,491 3/1962 Hopkins.

3,072,878 1/1963 Woodward et al. 339--2l7 X MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner 10 I. A. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 339-l88, 221 

